The Vertigo of Technology and Its Uncanniness

The Vertigo of Technology and its Uncanniness Gabriela Semensato Ferreira1 Abstract: Published for the first time during the 1930’s Great Depression, Vertigo is a “wordless novel”, according to its author Lynd Ward. This work marks the historic moment when various technologies are integrated to the urban life, such as the train, the telephone and the cars, showing how these changes interact with the capitalist crisis lived at that time. Thus, Ward recreates multiple sensations of vertigo using the woodcutting technique in this precursor of the graphic novel. This article relates the impacts of technology to the notion of uncanny and the reception of this work among artists. Keywords: vertigo; Lynd Ward; technology; the uncanny. Resumo: Publicado pela primeira vez durante a Grande Depressão dos anos 1930, Vertigo é um “livro sem palavras”, segundo seu autor Lynd Ward. A obra marca o momento histórico em que diversas tecnologias são integradas à vida urbana, como o trem, o telefone e os carros, ao mostrar como essas mudanças interagem com a crise do capitalismo vivida na época. Assim, Ward recria múltiplas sensações de vertigem a partir da técnica da xilografia, utilizada neste precursor do romance gráfico. Este trabalho relaciona os impactos da tecnologia à noção de estranho e à recepção dessa obra no meio artístico. Palavras-chave: vertigem; Lynd Ward; tecnologia; o estranho. Résumé: Cette étude porte sur Vertigo de Lynd Ward, paru pendant la Grande Dépression des années 1930. S’agissant, selon l’auteur, d’un “livre sans un seul mot”, cet oeuvre établit des rapports parmi la crise du capitalisme et les nouvelles technologies qui venaient de faire partie de la vie urbaine. On propose un débat concernant la réception de cet ouvrage et des effets de ces technologies sur la notion “d’inquiétante étrangeté”. Cela permet de comprendre mieux le sentiment de vertige en le lisant, provenant du procédé de la xylographie d’après lequel Ward a créé ce précurseur du roman graphique. Mots clés: vertige; Lynd Ward ; technologie ; l’inquiétante étrangeté. 1 Doutoranda/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Revista Investigações Vol. 27, nº 1, Janeiro/2014 Introduction: indefinable works To what do we associate the sensation of vertigo? The narrative entitled Vertigo, by Lynd Ward, offers us some suggestions. Published for the first time in 1937, its position among the other pictorial works by Ward is a rather strange one – or maybe uncomfortable. It reappeared in the editorial market only a few years ago, in 2009, but it is recognized by some critics as the precursor of the graphic novel (or almost), by others as something which is close to comics (or almost). It is often referred to as a "wordless novel" (or close to wordless). Ward himself called it simply a pictorial narrative. This is – or is supposed to be – a silent novel. Considering some of Will Eisner's studies (such as Comics and Sequential Art, 1985), maybe it could be analyzed as part of the "sequential arts". Scott McCloud (in Understanding Comics, 1993), however, prefers relating it to "comics", even if the work in question doesn't quite fit this concept. Finally, Santiago García (in A Novela Gráfica, 2012), calls it a wordless novel, which is, nonetheless, "in the frontier of conventional comics" (GARCÍA, 2012:92). Still, Vertigo is praised as Ward's masterpiece. It is a work which breaks free, in part, of the "stereotype of the moralizing fable", according to García (2012:92). Besides, it "almost reminds" one of the contemporary graphic novels, he says, for including, in its final scene, a moment where the story is "cut" in the exact instant when the sensation of movement and of vertigo is captured, for example. 2 Gabriela Semensato Ferreira The problem of definition remains, though. Our notion of sequential arts might be too ample, according to McCloud (1993:7)2. Defining it as comics, on the other hand, is also questionable, since it has the inconvenience of presenting only one picture per page, no frames, and no speech bubbles3. Despite all that, García (2012:100) identifies in the contemporary graphic novels, such as Will Eisner's works, a connection with the wordless novels by artists like Ward, Otto Nückel and Frans Masereel. The details that motivate this comparison point exactly to what still makes them so "strange" in our XXI century reader's eyes. Reversely, these characteristics are also what make these works so "alternative" and respected sometimes: one frameless picture in each page, the theatrical or dramatic treatment of the characters' gestures and the sceneries. Image 1: Gestures and theatricality (WARD, 2009: no page number) 2 That is because sequential arts (like the cinema) are usually made of images which are sequential in time, not spatially juxtaposed, like comics. 3 According to McCloud (1993:20), only one panel can't be considered comics, but a cartoon, for example. Between one panel and another, the reader completes the idea suggested by the juxtaposition of images. A contemporary exception might be Will Eisner, who also makes whole page compositions. 3 Revista Investigações Vol. 27, nº 1, Janeiro/2014 Although the dispute for a more suitable concept – comics, sequential art – is a very curious and significant discussion, it is not this article's main goal to defend one of those terms presently. Neither is the idea of describing a legacy of wordless novels and its consequences for the graphic novels. This study intends to use the conceptual dispute as a means to observe the "strangeness" of Vertigo, by Lynd Ward, in various perspectives. What constitutes, therefore, its "uncanniness"? Why it is, therefore, that Vertigo is renowned among other pictorial works, even after decades of its disappearance in bookstore shelves? What can a silent novel say so loudly that it is not forgotten? What is the extension of the vertigo it provokes? Vertigo and other arts Vertigo was made using the technique of woodcarving. Lynd Ward is described by critics as a master in the art of carving wood and producing magnificently detailed prints. He would work for months making panels and if anything, the slightest detail, went wrong, he would throw it away and begin again. Hence, for the 230 prints in Vertigo, many more were discarded. The book was first published in the United States during the Great Depression. It is divided in chapters, with no numbers to mark them. The title of each chapter is the name of its main character, followed by subchapters dividing the sequence of images in years, months and days. 4 Gabriela Semensato Ferreira There are three characters in the narrative and its stories are organized in different temporal spaces. After the start of each chapter, there is a sequence of panels that serves as a kind of prologue reporting the events that happened up to that point. It's in this space that The Boy and The Girl first meet, for example. The vertigo caused by this work seems to be connected to various elements. Historically, the turn of the 20th century brought many vertiginous innovations. The first heavier-than-air flights happened then. The telephone became part of the routine of the big cities, which transformed progressively with the shapes of the higher buildings. The train, moreover, was seen as one of the greatest synonyms of modernity, of progress. A great part of these machines were incorporated by Ward in Vertigo. Image 2: The Boy on the train (WARD, 2009: no page number) 5 Revista Investigações Vol. 27, nº 1, Janeiro/2014 The first "wordless novels" appeared in the 1920's and are connected to the experimentation with longer narratives. David A. Beronä (apud GARCÍA, 2012) considers that the publishing of comic strips in newspapers of that period made its development easier and that it was also influenced by the great power of the silent film industry. Santiago García identifies similarities between the wordless novels and one kind of silent movie: the urban symphony. In this genre, the protagonist is no longer one individualized character, but a collective entity in the modern city. In Ward's works, the same phenomenon can be noticed. In his story the masses – a "social class" – are also a character. In Vertigo, however, this is presented in a different way. The protagonists are individuals once more. They have names and they are separated from the crowd, in a sense, since it is their personal stories being told. Even then, their names are only "categories" (The Girl, An Elderly Gentleman, The Boy). Their individuality is presented in sceneries where comparisons to the others surrounding them can't be avoided. So they are represented in queues waiting for jobs, or in the middle of a strike, for example. 6 Gabriela Semensato Ferreira Image 3: People on strike (WARD, 2009: no page number) The plot has a certain degree of complexity, due in part to the possibilities of interpretation opened by the sequence of images. The links between one picture and the next are more suggested than imposed on the reader. In the beginning, The Boy and The Girl meet, fall in love and seem to visualize a promising future for themselves, but are confronted with the reality surrounding them. The economical crisis causes unemployment, debt, poverty, and eventually hopelessness. She starts as a talented violinist, for instance, but can't follow this career later on. Time, space and style Ward's technique is rich in detail. It is possible to see the light and the shadows, the pleat of the fabrics, the sense of depth and movement, and people's expressions and feelings. Still, in some 7 Revista Investigações Vol. 27, nº 1, Janeiro/2014 moments, the faces of the characters inhabiting the story can't be distinguished clearly one from the other.

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